Secret vote on ACTA?

According to Marietje Schaake, member of the European Parliament’s International Trade committee (INTA), there is a rumor that there will be a request for a secret vote on ACTA. See her tweet.

Who would have somehing to hide? A small majority of groups are against ACTA. Proponents of ACTA may hope that a secret ballot may dilute group discipline, with a report recommending adoption of ACTA as result.

Then Commissioner De Gucht invited himself to the INTA committee, to address the committee just before the ACTA vote. The committee changed that to: you can come on Wednesday, not Thursday just before the vote. (revised agenda, pdf): 20 June 2012, 18.00 – 18.30, point 13 Exchange of views with Karel De Gucht, Commissioner for Trade, on the Anti-
Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA).

The vote will be on Thursday 21 June after 10 am (point 32, there is a long list). And it may be secret.

Today the European Parliament adopted a non-binding resolution on the trade agreement with the United States (TTIP). Based on this resolution we could have a discriminating and expansive investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS) system, rigged to the advantage of the United States.

Martin Schulz, the president of the European Parliament proposed a compromise amendment on investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS). [1]
The amendment calls on the EU commission to replace ISDS with ISDS: "to replace the ISDS-system with a new system for resolving disputes between investors and states".

The French government published a proposal for investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS) reforms: Towards a new way to settle disputes between states and investors, May 2015. (pdf, French: Le Monde)
Summary
The French proposal would grant for-profit arbitrators, working in a system that creates perverse incentives, vast discretionary powers.

Last week the European Parliament postponed the vote on a resolution on the EU-US trade agreement (TTIP). The vote was postponed because many social democratic members oppose investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS).

Wednesday the European Parliament will vote on a resolution on TTIP, the agreement with the US under negotiation. The EU commission wants to add investor-to-state dispute settlement, or ISDS, to this agreement.

Social democratic ministers from six EU countries published reform proposals for the highly controversial investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism. ISDS gives foreign investors the right to bypass local courts and use international arbitration to fight out conflicts with states.

EU Trade Commissioner Malmström addressed a question from MEP Adam Gierek on TTIP effects on transatlantic patentability differences. The Commissioner did not actually answer the question of the Polish social democrat and responded with routine information: "Notwithstanding patent protection granted by US law to computer programs, our current international obligations ensure copyright protection in both parties."

Wikileaks has released the "Investment Chapter" from the secret negotiations of the TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) agreement. It contains the highly controversial investor-to-state dispute settlement mechanism (ISDS), which makes it possible for multinational to sue states for international tribunals.

The European Commission investigates a permanent international investment court as a replacement of the controversial investor-to-state dispute settlement mechanism (ISDS). The plan for a court and the road map towards it are fundamentally flawed.

Today EU commissioner Malmström gave a speech in the European Parliament trade committee on investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS). ISDS gives foreign investors the right to use arbitration against states, instead of using local courts.

Today the EU declassified a two year old mandate of the member states to the European Commission to negotiate the services agreement TiSA. These mandates are drafted by the European Commission and approved by the member states in the European Council and authorise the European Commission to negotiate with third countries.

A Vrijschrift letter to the Dutch Parliament highlights the dangers of investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS) in the trade agreements with Canada (CETA) and Singapore (EUSFTA). On 25 March EU trade ministers will meet (informally) to discuss trade agreements and ISDS.

The European Commission acknowledges that the unitary patent is not safeguarded against the granting of software patents by endorsing the EPO teaching:
21. Will the new unitary patent regime facilitate the patenting of computer programmes?

United States Senator Elizabeth Warren turned against investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS): "Why create these rigged, pseudo-courts at all?" Jeff Zients, director of the National Economic Council, posted a response to Warren on the White House website.

Since 1 January 2015 online traders in the EU, selling items like "laser swords" in an app, have to apply the applicable value-added tax (VAT) rate to their purchases and submit the tax to the applicable tax authority of the responsible European member state. The new rules affect "laser swords", document templates and SaaS but not traditional ecommerce trade of physical goods.

The European Commission published a textual proposal for the TTIP talks that includes the H-Word. Previously the European Commission had argued that (legal) harmonisation was not among the objective of the agreement: "Given the efficiency of their respective systems, the intention is not to strive towards harmonisation, but to identify a number of specific issues where divergences will be addressed."

Eva Kaili (S&D) from Greece asks the European Commission (under rule 130):
The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership and potential areas of conflict with the Lisbon Treaty
The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (hereinafter TTIP) is a comprehensive free trade and investment agreement, which is currently being negotiated — behind closed doors — between the European Union and the US. In particular, all TTIP negotiations are swathed in secrecy, since the Commission is imposing the most stringent restrictions on the more important documents.

The European People's Party (EPP), the biggest group in the European Parliament, is in favour of investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS). I will discuss their position and conclude it creates three risks.

In October 2014 the European Commission published the draft text of the EU-Singapore trade agreement (EUSFTA) investment chapter. It contains investment protection rules for foreign investors and the controversial investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS), which gives foreign investors special rights in conflicts with governments.

Marietje Schaake, the European Parliament's liberal group's (ALDE) spokesperson on the trade agreement with the US (TTIP) published a blog on investor-state arbitration (ISDS). I will discuss her arguments below; to avoid cherry picking, I will quote her whole blog (for the links and images see her blog).

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